Privacy Policy

The following terms and conditions shall apply as between us going forward and may be updated from time to time. These are agreed between us to be made as part of our engagement which you agree to when using our website and when placing an order with us for preparing and filing a trademark application and/or performing a limited search. Please read through these terms and conditions and let us know if you have any comments prior to proceeding with your order. Our office is in SINGAPORE and you specifically agree for us to handle your matter from SINGAPORE under the terms and conditions set out below. If you disagree, do not proceed, do not use the site and do not make payment. If you have any questions about these terms and conditions, before proceedings send us an email at tms@sanlaw.legal. Scope of Work – Prepare & File Trademark Application and/or Knock-off Search Our scope of representation and work for you is limited to what you have selected during the process of completing the online forms. Any additional work would have to be agreed upon between us in writing. When you instruct us to prepare and file a trademark application, we will provide you with further advise as to how we recommend the application should be filed given the information you provided us. We may ask you to provide further documents and you undertake to provide us with the necessary documents and information. Once we have the necessary documents and information we will prepare and provide you with a draft and once you approve, we will proceed to file. In some countries certain documents, such as power of attorney and other forms may be required. You undertake to provide those as requested as soon as possible after our request was made. If you select and pay for a knock-off search, we will prior to filing but after preparing the draft application perform a quick knock-off search, which means that we will run an word identical search to the requested mark in the relevant trademark offices. We will not pay for any fee-based search and we do not guarantee that this search would be comprehensive rather it is an initial and quick review of the results for an identical word mark. This search is not done on any device (logo) and only the word mark portion in a composite mark would be search. If you have any questions as to scope of this search, please let us know. We do have other searches that can be performed at additional costs, and we strongly recommend that full trademark searches are performed prior to filing. Engagement & Filing Process When you place an order with us, we will begin our engagement process. We will verify your details and may ask you to provide verifying documents. We will then conduct a conflict check to see that we are cleared up to be engaged. Once this is done, one of our attorneys, qualified in the relevant jurisdiction, will discuss with you the trademark application you wish to file. Once this process is complete and you approve the application, we will proceed to file the application. Please read carefully the section on the service fees and other charges as costs are not limited to the filing professional and official fees. The monies you have paid to us through your credit card will be placed in our client account on your name and would not be used until we have prepared the application for you. Once you approve for us to proceed, we will use the funds you have paid us to pay for the official fees, incidentals and our professional fees. Limited Scope of Representation in Web Form Order Our firm provides full services in IP and commercial matters but it is crucial for you to understand that the professional fees paid when you order a trademark application filing/knock-off search is limited to the specific tasks of preparing and filing the relevant trademark applications and/or performing the knock-off search. You may require additional advise from us at which point there will be additional costs associated with provision of additional advise. Given the limited scope of service we provide through our Web From Order it is important for you to understand that we may not be able to answer all of your questions or fully explore all the issues relevant to your trademark application, not to your past, or future use of the mark in any particular jurisdiction. Other Terms Relating to Web Order Form By providing us with your instructions you are also stating to us that you are the rightful and lawful owner of the trademark for the relevant goods/services and that to the best of your knowledge the mark does not belong and is not used by any third party. You also agree that any information you provide to us is true and accurate and that you are making the application in good faith and for lawful purposes. In the United States a trademark may be filed on the basis of use or intent to use in US Commerce. You agree that any information you provide in respect of your use or intended use in the US is full, accurate, not fake and complete. You understand that we will make statements on you behalf and we will ask you to sign certain documents confirming these documents, which if proved false may subject you to punishment be law and may be the basis for invalidating your trademark application and/or registration. You understand and agree that if you provided any false information to us or caused us to sign any documents which are false or misleading, you will indemnify us and/or any of our attorneys for any damages which may be caused by such false or misleading statements and that we may immediately terminate our representation. Professional Services Fees Unless otherwise agreed in writing, our professional fees for legal services are based primarily on the amount of time our attorneys, patent agents, and other professional staff spend performing services on your behalf. When you place an order on the our website, the prices noted therein will be for preparing and filing your trademark application in the jurisdictions you instructed us to proceed with and/or perform knock-off searches in one of these countries. Our other charges for ongoing work will be based on hourly rate as will be provided to you. When possible and when we can estimate the services to be performed, we will provide estimates and charge on a per task basis. Please do understand that this would not always be possible. Other Charges In addition to fees for our professional services, there are charges for expenses that we will incur on your behalf or in connection with our engagement. Expenses incurred will be billed at our cost (which in some cases may be estimated) in addition to a fixed fee for incidentals. Once the filing is complete and if we continue to act for you, we will charge for incidentals and expenses we undertake for you with each of our invoices. Payment Made in Advance As explained above you are making payment in advance in relation to the services we are providing you and costs we will incur. We call this a retainer. The retainer will be required for costs relating to the filing of trademark applications and other matters as the firm may decide on from time to time. Once a retainer is placed with us, we will use the retainer to pay any expense paid on your behalf. We will use the retainer to also pay our professional fees that we agreed on and once the service has been provided. Any outstanding amount related to our services, which the retainer is insufficient to cover will be invoiced separately. We may also ask you from time to time to supplement the retainer and you agree to do so promptly if you wish for us to continue your representation. It is important to note that if we don’t have money to account and there is work to do and you fail to pay additional retainer we will not continue to act on your behalf and you application may be abandoned. Payments Form We are only able to receive Singapore or US dollars, and you agree to pay in one of these denominations as is reflected in our invoice. If we pay on your behalf to third parties, we will convert the payment to Singapore/US dollar. You are always entitled to receive a copy of the payments we make on your behalf. Should you wish to pay by direct transfer, please let us know and we will provide you with our relevant account number. We do not accept any other currency. Conflict of Interests Prior to proceeding with the engagement, and as we noted above, we have conducted an internal conflict check, which is designed to determine that your interests and those of our existing clients do not diverge with those of yourself. Once we have determined that we have no conflict in representing you, our engagement can proceed. Our conflict check was limited to your name and other information you provided. If any conflict arises in relation to yourself or the company, you intend to establish in the future we will provide the necessary notices as we are instructed by law. If there is any information that you think is relevant for us to conduct additional conflict checks, please let us have this information as soon as possible. If a conflict arises during your representation, we are entitled to give you notice and terminate our representation and/or seek other solutions with you. The decision, however, as to the termination of the representation is solely ours. You also agree that we may represent other clients in the future in trademark and other matters which we believe in our sole opinion would not cause a conflict and if we believe would cause a conflict, we may withdraw from your representation by giving you a notice of withdrawal from representation. We will in any event maintain and continue to maintain all your confidential information without disclosing any such information to any third parties subject to the terms and conditions herein. Computerized Research and Database Charges We utilize industry acceptable databases to provide primary automated research services that assist in reducing our professional fees. In addition, we have access to other internal and external databases, which help to save money and assist in improving the quality of trademark searches. However, for the purpose of any knock-off search we will only use open databases offered by the respective trademark offices and would not incur any other of pocket expenses for such a search. However, should you wish to have a full trademark search, our charges for use of these automated research tools, when applicable, are at vendor invoice, which is net of all discounts provided by the vendors, will be paid by you in advance of any search conducted. Processing of Personal Data Our Practice is committed to complying with the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA). We will be collecting, storing and using your personal information as is necessary in order to provide you with our services as per your instructions. You will have access to your personal data throughout the terms of our representation. We also amend any error in your personal data when alerted to such error. As part of our representation, we may be required to provide your personal information to various offices, authorities, agencies, government authorities, such entities may not provide the same level of data protection as is afforded under the PDPA and you hereby agree that we may do so if this is reasonably required for us to represent your interests, including file applications, correspond, and act on your behalf. If you have any concern in respect of PDPA application please contact us and our designated Data Protection Officer, please contact him for any concern you may have in respect of PDPA application. Terms of Payment & Cancellations The payment provided to us is for preparing and filing a trademark application would be in advance of our commencing work. Once we commence work on your application, the professional fees would not be refundable and the official fees may be refundable until the time we file the application. If you wish for us to refund your fees please let us know before we commence work on the application. There will be a service charge for any refund if it is made to your credit card as per the Platform we use and there would be an additional refund charges of S$50 for our handling of the refund. Once we issue additional invoices for other/further work, the terms stated in the invoices issued to the you shall govern the terms of payment. If not stated otherwise, payment of our invoice is to be made within 14 days from the date of each invoice. Depending on the work to be done and our correspondence, we will not undertake work prior to receiving your payment and it is your responsibility to provide timely payments for professional fees and costs when so requested. Invoices and GST Our professional fees and other costs exclude value-added or such similar taxes (at present, we are registered for GST in Singapore), out-of-pocket expenses or disbursements. We will apply GST as prescribed under Singapore law. You will bear any taxes and expenses incurred in connection with payment to us. Correspondence & Documents As per our practice, you are entitled to, and when possible, we will provide you with a copy of any substantive correspondence, subject to payment of all outstanding fees and costs. Most of our office correspondence as well as notifications and billing will be made by electronic means and such correspondence shall be considered as valid as between us. Messaging programs such as WhatsApp and others would not be valid, and we do not maintain copies thereof and we request any official correspondence is conducted by email. Our office is paper free and therefore we do not maintain paper copies of any document we receive from you or on your behalf. We will also retain documents relating to your representation thereof for the period of representation and 18 months thereafter. After such time, our systems will automatically purge such documents. You therefore undertake to maintain documents and correspondence we provide you with and backup the same and understand and agree that we will not be liable for any loss of documents nor require to provide you any document or correspondence that has been provided to you once nor our internal documents. Client Cooperation Client cooperation is critical to our ability to represent you and provide you the services you engaged us for. We expect that you will provide clear instructions and documents when they are requested and keep us informed of any material development/documents/facts in the matters you instruct us. You are also required to update us promptly of any change in your physical, phone or email addresses. KYC-AML For certain matters, as part of our engagement and on-going representation we are required to undertake Client Due Diligence, which includes Anti-Money Laundering inquiries and fill certain forms (CDD), which we will keep unless requested by Ministry of Law, Law Society, or other authorities in Singapore to disclose. To this end, we will have to obtain certain information in relation to your identity, including documents showing your personal information, proof of address and proof of ownership, as the case maybe. We will also have to ask and record certain answers to questions relating to you and your business. We will maintain this information as confidential and will not disclose to any third party other than to Singapore authorities when so specifically requested. Under these rules we cannot accept payment from anyone other than you unless you provided explanation for the same and we conducted an identity check on the person intending to make the payment.  Documents in relation to CDD will be maintained for 5 years or as per the relevant governing laws and rules. For any additional information please see www.lawsociety.com.sg. Cyber & Other Security Our firm employs industry-standard computerized systems, such as Office 365, Teams and SharePoint, and other industry-standard applications. Our attorneys and staff may communicate with you or others by email, send data over the Internet, store electronic data via computer software applications hosted remotely on the Internet, or allow access to data through third-party vendors’ secured portals or clouds. You agree that such communication does not need to be encrypted, password protected or otherwise protected. You agree electronic data that is confidential may be transmitted or stored using these methods. In using these data communication and storage methods, our firm makes reasonable efforts to keep such communications and data access secure in accordance with our obligations under applicable laws and professional standards. You recognize and accept that we have no control over the unauthorized interception or breach of communications or data once it has been sent or has been subject to unauthorized access, notwithstanding all reasonable security measures employed by us or our third-party vendors. We specifically disclaim any liability or responsibility whatsoever for interception or unintentional disclosure, and you agree we shall have no liability for any loss or damage to any person or entity resulting from the use of email transmissions and/or electronic industry-standard applications. Third Parties As part of carrying out your instructions, it may be necessary for us to instruct third parties (e.g. –associates/agents/translators) to act on your behalf. You agree that we may either instruct third parties directly on your behalf or require you to sign a power of attorney or similar appointment to engage such third party directly. Such third parties are not part of our firm. Whilst we shall endeavor to select third parties whose performance and expertise we regard as being of good quality, we will not be liable for any losses, liabilities, costs or expenses arising as a result of any default or negligence on the part of any such third parties. You agree to pay their bills fully and we will provide you copies upon request (up to 18 months from our receipt of the same). Termination Each party may terminate this Agreement for any reason by giving a written notice to the other party. Termination of this Agreement will not relieve you of your obligation to timely pay the outstanding fees and expenses owed by you prior to the date of termination, in accordance to the above terms. If we represents you before any court, tribunal, administrative panel or office, and we wish to withdraw from representation, you will not unreasonably withhold or delay consent to do so. Legal Services Regulatory Authority We are regulated by the Singapore Legal Services Regulatory Authority (“LSRA”). You can find details of the regulations under which we operate by visiting the LSRA web site at http://www.mlaw.gov.sg. We are also subject to certain rules/regulation overseen by the Law Society of Singapore. https://www.lawsociety.org.sg/ Law, Venue & Dispute Resolution This agreement and our relationship are exclusively subject and governed by the Singapore Law without giving effect to any conflict of laws. In the event of a dispute you are required to notify us immediately of the issue and specify clearly where the issue is. We will do our best to resolve the issue and you and us agree to try to make a good faith attempt to resolve any dispute we may have amicably and quickly. If within 15 days from the time the dispute arises, including any dispute arising out of or in connection with these terms and/or our engagement, including any question regarding their existence, validity or termination, each party may refer the dispute to be finally resolved by arbitration administered by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC”) in accordance with the Arbitration Rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC Rules”) for the time being in force, which rules are deemed to be incorporated by reference in this clause. The seat of the arbitration shall be Singapore. The Tribunal shall consist of a single arbitrator who has at least 10 years of experience in the practice of law as a partner in a law firm. The language of the arbitration shall be English. The arbitration shall be confidential and any award shall be kept confidential by the parties and shall not be published and if necessary the parties shall make such applications as may be necessary to keep the arbitration proceeding and any award confidential. Other Dispute Resolution in Certain Cases While the law, venue and dispute resolution of this letter of engagement and these terms is set for Singapore, for cases we handle which relate to US law, New York law may be applied to some, or all of the terms set forth in this letter through mandatory provisions under New York law. As a result, and only in such specific cases, to the extent specifically required under New York law, New York law may govern any dispute concerning our representation. In such an event, and only in such an event, any dispute in connection with our fees in any amount between US$1,000 and US$50,000, will be submitted under New York law, to a final, binding arbitration if you so elect. The Seat of the arbitration will be Singapore and the venue will be Singapore. You may also choose to have a mediator help to resolve any such dispute. Such mediation will be conducted in -person in Singapore. Both arbitration and mediation are forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”). ADR is usually more cost-efficient and faster than litigation. This particular dispute resolution clause is mandated by the professional responsibility rules in the state of New York and will only applied when strictly required under these rules. In all other cases, the other terms and conditions will apply. In any such case, both parties hereby waive trial by jury, the parties also agree to have limited discovery, which only be relevant to the specific matter in dispute, and agree that they will each bear their own attorney’s fees. he Parties further agree that any award issued through arbitration may not be appealed. The arbitration shall be confidential and any award shall be kept confidential by the parties and shall not be published and if necessary the parties shall make such applications as may be necessary to keep the arbitration proceeding and any award confidential. You agree that you have read the above terms and conditions and enter these freely and willingly and you agree to binding arbitration in case of a dispute and that you have had the right to independent counsel advise prior to entering into this agreement with us. Any notices to be provided in accordance with this agreement as between us shall be done by email to tms@sanlaw.legal (for us) and the email you provided us in the Web Order Form. You may also contact us in our Singapore Office address at: Soroker Agmon Nordman Pte Ltd, 111 Somerset Road, #09-14, Singapore 238164